Ryoko Suru Monogatari
by Demonic Chaos
Summary: The book is opened. Two girls vanish, and a new priestess is chosen.


Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue. Comprende? Meimi and all other characters minus Yume belong to me. Almost all these concepts found here belong to Watase-sensei, but the rest I made up. If you recognize any dialogue, it's probably not mine. I'm just borrowing it.

* * *

Four o'clock, Friday afternoon. The last day of school before summer vacation. The atmosphere in the Setagaya-Ku schools was tense. Anticipation was tangible, with both students and faculty alike waiting for a single sound. The faint cry of a distant bell signaled instantaneous freedom. '_Wait! Was that it?' _There was a pause as all turn to one another, as if to check that they are not hearing fictitious things. _'Yes, yes it was!' _The entire student body surged through classroom doors, mixing together in the hallways and pouring out into the streets. Ah, sweet freedom. 

A group of five girls split off from the crowd walking home. They turned right and began the decent into the subway. One after another, they slid their fare cards into the turnstiles and regrouped on the other side. An announcement on the loudspeaker sent the girls running for their train.

Breathless and laughing they piled into a full car. Four of the girls grabbed handholds, while the shortest, a fiery redhead, clung to them, perfectly unable to reach. The tallest girl, who possessed amber brown hair and glasses, laughed and the redhead pouted, before joining in the laughter. The other three just rolled their eyes.

"I can't believe you're moving," the dark-blue haired girl said.

"In the middle of high school too," the girl with short brown hair, added.

"It's so unfair!" exclaimed the last girl.

"I know," the tall girl replied with a Zen-like calm. She was already well adjusted to this fact.

The loud speaker above announced the next stop as they pulled into the station.

"That's me," the shorthaired girl said.

The doors opened and she turned to callback. "Bye guys! Yume, call me before you leave, kay?"

The tall girl nodded. There was a chorus of 'Bye Ryoko!' and the doors closed. Naoko's stop was next. The girl with the blue hair moved closer to the doors.

"I want postcards from everyone, okay? Since I'm stuck at Oba-san's all summer, I'll need excitement. Tell Ryo for me?" She waved as she left.

"And then there were three," the redheaded girl remarked.

"Soon to be two, since my stop's next." Kanake, the girl with black hair commented with a smile. As the doors at the next stop opened, she turned and hugged the two girls.  
"Come visit, okay?"

Yume nodded.

"Bye Kana-chan!"

"Bye!"

There was silence for a few minutes after the doors had closed and the subway began its trek across Tokyo. The red-haired girl broke the silence.

"So you're really moving?"

"Really really." Yume looked down at the shorter girl. "Mei, are you still planning to live at my house?"

"Yep. Until you leave and then I'll sneak into your suitcase."

"You don't need to. I'm only moving to Nara."

"With the evil deer that attack you!"

"Only if you have deer biscuits."

"But still-I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

The subway stopped and the doors opened with a 'ding.'

"Race you home," Yume said to her friend, a mischievous edge to her voice.

"Not fair! You have longer legs, plus you're on the track team!"

"I'll give you a head start."

Meimi calculated for a moment, before deciding. "You're on!"

The tore out of the station, almost knocking over a group of tourists. Two blocks later, both were breathing hard, in front of Yume's house. Yume dug through her bag for the house key and unlocked the door. The girls fell through the doorway, dropping their school bags and shoes and donning house slippers. Skirting carefully past Nitta's open door, they avoided a 'welcome' interrogation. They ran down the rest of the hall, half screaming, and half laughing, while being pelted with Nakai's foam darts from his new toy gun.

Shutting the door to Yume's room behind her, Meimi looked around. Boxes were piled everywhere. The walls were bare and white, the posters that had served as wallpaper had been rolled up and tossed into a box.

"Scary isn't it?"

"Very. Want me to help box?"

"Yes please. You'll keep me from going insane."

Twenty minutes passed, as the girls packed, happily chatting about movies, books, and boys.

After a while, Meimi announced to her friend, "Yu, my box is full. What do I do?"

Yume smiled. "Then it's basement time. C'mon."

* * *

In the basement, there were even more boxes. The large room now resembled a cardboard jungle. Setting her box down, Meimi glanced around.

Yume pointed across the room, "On that bookshelf are the books we can't keep. Take a look."

The small girl followed her friend's directions and walked over to the shelf. She ran her fingers over the spines, causing a cloud of dust to arise. Yume had followed, and the sudden cloud of dust sent the girls into a coughing spree. A few moments later, they caught their breath, still wheezing slightly. Meimi looked up. Her fingers had caught on the spine of a book. This particular book was now lying on the floor. Meimi bent to pick it up, while Yume peered over her shoulder.

"Why do you have such and old book?" Meimi asked.

"Beats me," Yume said, before reading the title out loud, "The Universe of the Four Gods. What the heck!"

"It looks like a Japanese translation of some Chinese legend."

"Lemme see," Yume moved to stand next to Meimi, as the small girl opened the book and flipped to the first page of writing.

Yume resumed reading out loud. "'_Herein contains the tale of a young lady and her quest to gather the seven constellations of Suzaku together._'"

"What's a Suzaku?" Meimi asked.

"I dunno. A sort of Peacock, I guess…" Yume answered. "'_And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine, and grant your wish._'"

"What's a Suzaku?" Meimi asked again.

"I dunno. This has got to be some kind of spell book," Yume answered, once again. "'_For indeed the moment the page is turned, the story will become reality._'"

"What's a Suzaku-"

"I don't know already! You deaf?" Yume responded, annoyed.

Meimi's voice rose with excitement, "So- So if you read it your wish comes true? Sign me up!"

"Yeah right. And I'm the Pope in Rome." Yume stated sarcastically.

Meimi lifted the next page absently. The room began to shake. The girls screamed, dropping the book and clinging to each other. At that moment, Nakai appeared at the top of the stairs, playing a video game, seemingly unaffected by the sudden earthquake.

He called down, "Yume, can you…?" He looked up to see his sister and her best friend disappear in a flash of light.

* * *

So what do you think? R&R is much appreciated. 


End file.
